Grand Theft Radio: The Soundtracks of San Andreas

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All eleven radio stations revealed! New screenshots, station logos, and information you won't find anywhere else.

By Jeremy Dunham

One of the biggest questions we've gotten over the last couple of months here at IGN is "What can you tell us about the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas?" Unfortunately for our readers, we've had to remain completely hush-hush about it and were sworn to total secrecy. Luckily for us (and for you), however, that time of silence is now finally over, as we've finally gotten the okay from our friends at Rockstar to fill you in on the audio aspects of the year's most anticipated PlayStation 2 game.

Now we should tell you right off the bat, that San Andreas looks to expand on the strong production values of 2002's Vice City by quite a considerable margin. Boasting more than three times as many tracks as Grand Theft Auto III (let me say that again: three times as many tracks as GTA3), San Andreas features 11 fully-functional radio stations with 20 completely different DJs. The song list alone is pretty enormous with more licensed music in it than in any other action videogame in history. Ranging in styles from Rap to Rock, Country to House, and Reggae to Rock, San Andreas should have a little something for everyone -- including the always-popular talk radio programming.

Lead by Audio Designer Allan Walker and Music Producer Craig Connor, the radio aspects of the game have been given a complete technical overhaul. Instead of looping the sounds heard on each station, for instance, the entire setup is dynamic -- which allows each DJ to react to events in the game in real time. What this means is, that each and every song will be given a different introduction based on who the DJ is, as well as being prefaced with comments on CJ's progress through the game. Additionally, players can expect to hear live weather bulletins, deadly accurate news updates, music blocks, custom track lead-ins and outs, and call-ins from people all over the state.

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The commercials have been given a greater emphasis as well, with three times the amount found in Grand Theft Auto III. And since the whole state of San Andreas is populated with real brand names that CJ can purchase, commercials for them will be aired on a regular basis. Helmut Schein, Cluckin' Bell, and Ammu-Nation are but a few of these companies that have already paid for a considerable amount of airtime.

Perhaps the coolest aspect of radio stations, though, is the fact that each and every vehicle will play songs differently -- since every vehicle has different speakers inside them. As an example, normal cars have a more balanced sound playback while lowriders offer a huge amount of bass and low-end audio. Players will also have access to a new optional feature that allows them to adjust the sound level of their ride.

Outside of the game, fans will once again have the opportunity to purchase the soundtrack independently (Vice City did the same two years back). But to make this new soundtrack even better than the last, Rockstar has reached an agreement with Interscope Records to publish two different ways to get your hands on the music. The first is the regular edition double album that offers up key tracks for each radio station. But the second and more attractive way to get the music is via the giant box set -- an enormous package that contains eight overloaded CDs. Both versions of the soundtrack are expected to hit shelves on November 23.

But how about the radio stations themselves? What can we expect from them? Listed on the next page are all ten music stations described in detail with Rockstar's own official description included to support them: